3D Studio Max，常简称为3ds Max或MAX，是Autodesk公司开发的基于PC系统的三维动画渲染和制作软件。其前身是基于DOS操作系统的3D Studio系列软件，最新版本是2013。在Windows NT出现以前，工业级的CG制作被SGI图形工作站所垄断。3D Studio Max + Windows NT组合的出现一下子降低了CG制作的门槛，首选开始运用在电脑游戏中的动画制作，后更进一步开始参与影视片的特效制作，例如：《X战警II》，《最后的武士》等。
3DMOTIVE INTRO TO NORMAL MAPS
In Intro to Normal Maps, Warren Marshall will be providing a crash course on normal maps and walking you through the technical know-how to fix commonly encountered errors in your normal maps. Knowing what’s going on under the hood will make you a better artist because you’ll not just be able to fix errors, but you’ll understand why those errors are happening, which is a much stronger position to be in. During this course he’ll start at the fundamentals and work our way up to advanced trouble shooting techniques. This will include covering topics such as: What a Normal Is, What a Normal Map Is, What Normal Maps Do and Don’t Do, What Causes Seams, and various baking related topics to name a few. We won’t cover specific applications or workflows because the idea here is to give you the core knowledge of what a normal map is – specifically, what it’s doing for you and what it’s not doing for you. Near the end, he’ll talk about how to avoid projection error when baking your normal maps and he’ll be showing you an easy way to add details to your high poly mesh in the form of floaters. Lots of great introductory content here, so don’t miss out!
